Varona is the only player on the travel roster who is not on the 40-man roster, but manager Kevin Cash said it was an obvious decision to include him. Varona has not been back to Cuba since leaving the island three years ago on a boat with his mother.

Cash said several players came to him and asked that Varona be included. Varona said that included Evan Longoria and Chris Archer.

Here is the list of players who are going, from which a 28-man active roster will be chosen. LHP Matt Moore will start, and Cash said they will have eight or nine pitchers active:

About the blog

From Chris Archer to Evan Longoria to Kevin Kiermaier to manager Kevin Cash and beyond, the Tampa Bay Times has the most comprehensive coverage of the Tampa Bay Rays. Come here for the latest news, photos, video and more.